Little progress on police misconduct laws

As we know, history repeats itself.

In 1991, the Los Angeles Police beat Rodney King. A man caught the beating on his video camera. The tape went viral.

Across the country, calls for police reform rang far and loud. But, in Delaware, instead of police reform that year, the General Assembly introduced a bill to make police misconduct records secret. The bill was initially vetoed but eventually became law in 1995.

Fast forward almost 30 years. In 2023, the Delaware General Assembly introduced two police reform bills, HB 205 and HB 206. HB 205 allowed somewhat greater access to police misconduct records. HB 206 paved the way for the creation of police accountability boards.

HB 205 and HB 206 were promised as first steps. At the bills’ passage, multiple legislators said they were a beginning, a first step, and there was a commitment from one senator that, “I hope that this bill, that we come back next year, and take what we learned from this bill, and make it stronger next year.”

This August will be the one-year anniversary of those bills becoming law. While advertised as first steps, little progress has been made, and instead, police misconduct continues. The first step has become the only step. 

In Delaware, in the year since HB 205 and HB 206 have become law, multiple reports of police misconduct have continued. From the reports of an officer beating up a child over playing ding-dong ditch in Elsmere, to police shooting and killing a shoplifter at Lowe’s while not wearing body camera, to a Smyrna detective allegedly sending racist texts and viewing child pornography, to an off-duty Seaford officer reportedly pointing his gun at a woman during a road rage incident, the problem has not gone away. Some would say it’s gotten worse.

Again, history repeats itself. At a time when greater police reform is needed, the General Assembly did not introduce legislation this year to increase police transparency or accountability. Instead, HB 413 was introduced, which would permit off-duty police to arrest people outside of their jurisdiction.

It also raises the questions – why do police want their misconduct records kept a secret? What don’t they want us to know? What are they hiding? There are truly so many good police officers in our state, so why is officers’ misconduct kept secret? A Pew Research survey found that 72% of police officers did not think that officers who consistently do a poor job are actually held accountable. 

Besides reports of police misconduct continuing, and the lack of additional transparency reforms, HB 205 and HB 206’s promises of change are not being delivered. 

For example, HB 205 required the police to release detailed narratives of police misconduct to the Criminal Justice Council, but as of Aug. 1, only two reports have been posted. And no narratives regarding the examples that I listed above have been published, although they all happened last August.

Additionally, HB 206 required the creation of community review boards for all law-enforcement agencies. New Castle County was the first. It established a robust police accountability board that is trying to do as much as HB 206 allows. The board has held multiple meetings, consists of members truly committed to police reform, and works hard to listen to the community. While some other local governments have taken initial steps to comply with HB 206, it does not appear that all local governments have established boards under the law, and it is unclear how much the boards that do exist are operating pursuant to HB 206’s requirements.

This past year has shown us that police misconduct is still occurring, and people care that it is still happening in their backyards, where they shop and to people that they know. The cellphone video of the New Castle County Police punching a woman in the head multiple times after a traffic stop has gone viral with more than 540,000 views. Nationally, Sonya Massey was killed by a police officer who has a misconduct record and who had worked at six different police departments in four years. Without substantial laws requiring the police to be more transparent and accountable, history is repeating itself before our eyes.

Next year, Delaware’s police misconduct laws, formerly called the Delaware Law-Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights – now rebranded as Police Officers’ Due Process, Accountability, and Transparency – will mark their 40th anniversary as Delaware law. It will be the 30th anniversary of making police misconduct secret in Delaware. Enough is enough. It is time for change. 

The Delaware Office of Defense Services calls upon the General Assembly to introduce and pass meaningful police reform. Meaningful police reform would include allowing criminal defense counsel access to police misconduct records. Meaningful reform includes increased public access to police misconduct. Reform means greater power for police accountability boards to investigate and review misconduct in their communities, as well as provide recommendations to their police force.

Thirty years of police secrecy is not working. It’s time for a change.